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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Future from the past
He was to find out years later that the car ha had bought was stolen.
Could someone explan the first part of this sentence?
It's clear that his car was stolen and that he had bought it before, but why is here "to find out years"?
Could someone explan the first part of this sentence?
It's clear that his car was stolen and that he had bought it before, but why is here "to find out years"?
Top answer
The sequence of events is: 1. The car is stolen (by some unnamed person). 2.
- The sequence of events is: 1.
- The car is stolen (by some unnamed person).
- 2.
- He buys the car.
- several years pass ...
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4 Answers
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The sequence of events is:
1. The car is stolen (by some unnamed person).
2. He buys the car.
... several years pass ...
3. He finds out the car was stolen.
"He was to find out years later ..." is a form of future-in-the-past that looks forward from 2 (which is in the past relative to now) to 3 (which is in the future relative to 2). It is the p
1. The car is stolen (by some unnamed person).
2. He buys the car.
... several years pass ...
3. He finds out the car was stolen.
"He was to find out years later ..." is a form of future-in-the-past that looks forward from 2 (which is in the past relative to now) to 3 (which is in the future relative to 2). It is the p
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The constituents are "find out that the car ..." and "years later". "years later" explains when he found out. "find out years" is not a constituent.
CJ
CJ
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He was to find out years later that the car ha had bought was stolen.
Am I correct to say this has the same meaning and is probably preferred?
He would find out years later that the car he had bought was stolen.
Am I correct to say this has the same meaning and is probably preferred?
He would find out years later that the car he had bought was stolen.
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English 1b3Am I correct to say this has the same meaning and is probably preferred?Yes, you can say so. The question of preference is up to the composer of the sentence, I suppose.
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